Merry Christmas!

We just want to take a moment to say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to our 4-H family. Thank you for an incredible 2008. You might want to rest up over the holidays because we are going to celebrate in 2009. Stay tuned for more details.

Merry Christmas,

The Robeson County 4-H Staff

(Aggie, Penny & Shea Ann)

In the Spirit of Christmas and 4-H

In the spirit of Christmas and 4-H we had the opportunity to carry on a tradition this year of giving back to our community. As part of the County 4-H Youth Achievement night each youth brought a new toy to be donated to a child in the foster care program. The toys ranged from baby dolls to video games and our tree looked like it was going to be a great Christmas for everyone. Above members from our two clubs of the year, "Dirty Rascals" Junior Master Gardeners, and the Horsin' Around Horse club, helped collect all the toys that were donated and carried them over to the Foster Care Program. Vanessa Moore accepted the donation on behalf of the foster care program, and she said this year even more than ever donations were needed to try to serve all the families in the foster care program.
this is just one of the many ways our 4-H members give back to our community. If you would like more information on the 4-H community service projects just give Aggie Rogers, 4-H Program Associate or Shea Ann DeJarnette, 4-H Extension Agent, a call at the 4-H office, (910) 671-3276.

The Biggest Night of the Year

This is it! All the hard work, learning, fun, it boils down to one night to celebrate, and celebrate we did. Youth Achievement night is probably the favorite night of the year for the 4-H volunteers and staff. We celebrate the achievements of each youth and they receive a certificate listing all of their accomplishments during the year. Almost 250 youth completed projects and activities that would allow them to receive certificates this year. Some have completed so many they received two certificates for all their accomplishments. They also received a 4-H sling pack to take with them wherever they go to show off what a great 4-H member they are.

That is just the tip of the iceberg. We also celebrate our teen leaders, in the form of two awards. The members of the Junior Fairboard were presented with certificates by Peggy Hardin, member of the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair. Sadara Baker, Cierra Buckman, Kelsy Bullard, Sebastian Bullard, Triton Bullard, James Hurst, Rondell McMillan, Sharon McMillan, Jaboya Mouzon, and Yazmin Washington were all honored. The certificates represent a thank you for all their hard work planning youth events before the fair and work on those events, manning the information booth and taking care of lost children. They help at various events handing out ribbons, announcing, and helping calculating scores.

The second award is the "I Dare You" award. This award is presented to a teen who has shown their leadership abilities and is continually working to improve and expand on those abilities. The award was presented by James Moore, the Human Resource Director for the city of Lumberton but also the Chairperson of our County Extension Advisory Council. This year two teens, Cierra Buckman and Aljaquwon Nixon received this prestigious honor along with a book, and check. Cierra is President of our County Council, and Aljaquwon has served as Sergent at Arms for our county council. Both ran for County Council again this year and were elected as officers again for the upcoming year.

Also for the first time we presented the club of the year award. The club of the year is determined by preset criteria that include turning club paperwork in on time, percentage of members that take part in club, county, district, and state events, community service projects and more. This year for our first award we had a tie. Everett Davis, County Extension Director, presented this award and checks to each clubs. Jane Hurst organizational leader for the Horsin' Around Horse Club, and Missy Hoggard, Organizational Leader for the Dirty Rascals Junior Master Gardeners both accepted the award on behalf of their clubs.

The evening included entertainment, dinner, a slide show of the year in review, and lots of fun. For more information on 4-H on if you would like to become part of our community clubs please contact Aggie Rogers at our 4-H office, 671-3276.

Ringing in the Holidays the Clover Way

It's a tradition. You can not ring in the holidays in Lumberton without Robeson County 4-H. Thanks to the organizational and decorating skills of 4-H volunteers Libby Burney and Marilyn Merritt 4-H had the shiniest, most glamorous youth float in the annual Lumberton Holiday Parade. More than 40 youth and volunteers clamored aboard the flat bed truck that was decorated with traditional holiday decorations and 4-H clovers. A half dozen clubs were represented including; Dirty Rascals Junior Master Gardeners, Horsin' Around, Lightening Electric Club, Spiritual Generations, Voices in Praise, and Young Leaders. Everyone aboard the float helped to decorate and enjoyed their ride down the parade route waving and smiling to all those along the way. It might have been cold this year, but our group stayed warm spreading all their 4-H holiday spirit, and huddling under blankets. According to Libby Burney she has a whole hosts of ideas to make it even better for next year so go ahead and set the date aside on your calendar for next year as 4-H, and our float, will be bigger and better then ever.

State Council Conference is a Whirlwind!

What a week it has been! After leaving our incredible volunteers Friday night Yazmin Washington, Cierra Buckman and I headed to Raleigh early Saturday morning for 4-H State Council Conference. The two day event offers workshops in leadership areas and is also a chance for youth from around the state to get together to make decisions concerning the 4-H program state wide. There is also a battle for the state spirit stick which involves, skits, chants, and a whole lot of mystery points. Before we could even look at our schedules Yazmin, Cierra and DeAngelo Byrd from Scotland County, video taped a shout out for our Military troops stationed abroad and wrote messages on a banner that will be sent to them.
Cierra jumped into the swing of things first. She signed up for the Ambassador track of this conference. What that means is that she was learning about the 4-H Ambassador program and taking workshops to obtain her bronze level. 4-H Ambassadors are highly trained 4-H leaders. They teach workshops, recruit members and volunteers, and help make a difference in their community. By Sunday afternoon she had attended all the classes she needed to obtain her first level and now she is working on her portfolio and community service hours so she can move on to the silver level. There are four levels to the ambassador program, bronze, silver, gold, and emerald.

Yazmin was signed up for the straight track. What that means is she had the opportunity to attend workshops on a variety of topics including using play dough and Lego's to teach groups life skills, how to make thank you notes, media relations, public speaking, Geo caching and much more.
As part of the event the youth attend a state recognition banquet Saturday night. Yazmin was presented with the South Central District Volunteer Award for all of the work she does in her community thru 4-H, Girl Scouts, her church and school. It was a big shock for her but she seemed tickled pink (or should we say green) about it.
Please don't think I was kicked back and relaxing. While they were attending workshops and meetings I was teaching two workshops for silver and gold level ambassadors. This is a photo of the youth in the media one workshop they learned about doing interviews and writing press releases as well as how the media works. I charged them with downloading the photo and writing a press release for their county 4-H Agents to promote what 4-H is doing in our state. The second workshop involved youth learning about how to meet and greet lawmakers, donors and other important folks to 4-H. They had the opportunity to learn everything from how to dress for a meeting to how to make an appointment and how to make the most of their time with them. They were incredibly fun groups and I am looking forward to seeing everything they accomplish, as well as all that Cierra and Yazmin do with all that they learned over the weekend. As you can see from the photos we had a really great time in Raleigh, as well as the opportunity to learn.

Thank You

We say it too infrequently and they deserve so much more than just a mere thank you. I am talking about our incredible Robeson County 4-H volunteers. Nearly 75 of these special people joined us for our annual 4-H Volunteer Appreciation Banquet.

The room was decorated in black and silver to help kick off the upcoming State 4-H Centennial Celebration. Our volunteers were dressed to kill as they came to enjoy dinner, fellowship with other volunteers, and receive small tokens of our appreciation. Cierra Buckman and Yazmin Washington, both County Council officers, served as hostesses greeting our volunteers and pinning them with centennial pins while making sure they were armed with a ticket for some incredible door prizes. Everett Davis, the Robeson County Extension Director, welcomed everyone and served as our moderator for the evening. Bobby Rogers, a long time 4-H volunteer, gave the benediction and we all enjoyed an incredible dinner from Village Station. After dinner, the fun really began as we welcomed special guests including members of our specialized committee, County Commissioner (and 4-H volunteer) Hubert Sealey, and our North Carolina Cooperative Extension District Extension Director, Dr. Donald Cobb.

Valerie Humphrey provided incredible entertainment during the night singing some Broadway songs that took our breath away. Lt. Brian Duckworth of the Robeson County Sheriff's office was our speaker for the evening and reminded us about the special nature of volunteers and how our 4-H volunteers really are making a difference for the youth in our county. After all the formalities (and a few breaks for door prizes) it was time for what we all came for, time to recognize our volunteers for their service. We called them up by their years of service and gave them a small memento of our appreciation. The volunteers whose names are in bold were present to receive their gift and you can see them in our photos, grouped by year.
First Year Volunteers: Janet Calvin, Gwen Colvin, Jessica Drake, Margaret Crites, Pat McRae, Hubert Sealey, Linda Sealey and Tanya Underwood.
Second Year: Tony Bullard, Sandra Cox, Staci Kinlaw, Carolyn Lewis, Connie Locklear, Millard Locklear, Jane McMillan, Gail Rogers, Sonny Sampson and Arlene Smith.
Third Year: Sarah Baker, Joan Britt, Libby Burney, Retha Ekwunoh, Melissa Hoggard, Kusum Jahala, Vicky Pipkins and Larry Russ.
Fourth Year: Debra McBride
Sixth Year: Leonard Bullard, Sharon Bullard, Bessie Jones, Carolyn McMillan, Lillian McNeill, Gwen Rogers and Esther Wood.
Seventh Year: Renee Blue, Jane Hurst, Hattie Troy and Erica Willams.
Eighth Year: Sharon Byrd, Addie Mae Caple and Mary Grissett.
Ninth Year: Beverly Chambers, Sara Hunter and Debra Rogers.
Eleventh Year: Aletha Mebane and Cynthia Shipmon.
Twelfth Year: Laura Betha, Patrica Andrew-Ford and Sallie McCallum.
Thirteenth Year: Lorraine Chandler, Joyce Peay, Louise Ratley, Lula Ratley and Juanita Smith.

Fourteenth Year: Marilyn Merritt
Sixteenth Year: Kenneth Bethea and Hazel Sumner
Seventeenth Year: Linda Brown and Bobby Rogers
Nineteenth Year: Katherine Bethea and Roberta Grissett

Three volunteers received special recognition for their years of service. Ervin Ratlely was recognized for 10 years of service in 4-H. He is one of our long time Animal Science supporters and has worked with not only his children, but grandchildren completing 4-H projects. Deborah Mitchell was recognized for 15 years of service to 4-H. Joyce Jones, who was unable to attend, was also recognized for 25 years of service to 4-H serving in roles from club leader to Volunteer Leaders' Association officer and so much more in her 4-H career.

Before our evening was over the volunteers were treated to a slide show of all their exploits and learning activities of the year. In a special treat Libby Burney, 4-H volunteer with the Horsin' Around Horse Club, took the podium and recognized the 4-H staff with special gifts and also recognized volunteer Larry Russ, who has cooked for several events, with a special gift.

We hope our volunteers felt that this was a special night just for them and enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed putting it together for them. Most of all we just want to say thank you for all that you do for your communities, our youth, and 4-H.

Winter Comes Early

Traditionally the South Central District Winter Enrichment takes place in late January or Early February. This year it came a few months early thanks to a very special celebration. In 2009 North Carolina 4-H will be celebrating its centennial. To get ready the District officers decided it would be best to start preparing before the beginning of the year to celebrate. So this year they moved winter enrichment up and turned it into 4-H Centennial Enrichment.

Two Robeson County 4-H members, Cierra Buckman and James Hurst attended this teen event. They took part in workshops that included learning about solar energy, finding their beat during a music workshop, and learning about centennial activities and planning 100 ways to celebrate in 2009. The day also included a business meeting where county reports were given, an update from the 4-H state council planning meeting, and getting prepared for next weekends 4-H State Council Conference.

The two delegates from Robeson County were among 75 youth in attendance from 15 counties. Everyone had a good time, and offered suggestions for teen retreat, a two day meeting that will take place in March or April. Stay tuned for more details.